


there's something lonesome about you

by HeartonFire



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boxing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Divorce, Resolved Sexual Tension, Self-Defense, Sexual Tension, Smut, Soft Rio (Good Girls)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:33:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartonFire/pseuds/HeartonFire
Summary: AU where Beth decides to take a boxing lesson and Rio is her instructor. Not canon compliant.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 49
Kudos: 201





	1. Chapter 1

Beth hesitated, hand hovering over the handle of the door. It was crazy. Possibly her craziest idea ever, including her divorce.

Well, that wasn’t  _ crazy _ , exactly. More like necessary. Inevitable. Overdue.

_ This _ was crazy. Signing up for boxing lessons hadn’t seemed so out of the realm of possibility when she first thought of it, but now that she was here, her heart was racing, her palms were sweaty, and she should really just turn around and leave. This wasn’t the place for her. She was a mother of four, for god’s sake. Not some twenty-something gym rat who did things like this.

“You lost, ma?”

Beth whirled around at the sound of the deep voice behind her, and a flush spread over her entire body at the sight of the man standing there.

He was tall, slim, in dark clothes, with dark eyes that seared through her and a tattoo circling his neck that should have repulsed her, but somehow made her want to touch it.

“You good?” He looked a little concerned, and considering she hadn’t said a word, gaping at him like a fish, she couldn’t really blame him. “If you’re goin’ in, it’s pull, not push.”

Scoffing, like that was the only thing holding her back, Beth tugged on the door and it opened faster than she expected, nearly clocking her in the face. Her blush darkened, and she heard the man chuckle softly.

“Careful, yeah?” He caught the door with one hand and waved her through it with the other. “You sure you in the right place?”

Taking a shaky breath, Beth shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not.”

The man smiled, which made him somehow even more handsome, and that was really unfair, since he was already probably the hottest man she had ever seen in person, and she was feeling completely out of place, in her yoga pants and sneakers that made her look even frumpier than normal.

“I’m Rio,” he said, holding out a hand for her to shake. She was surprised it didn’t have ink on it.

“Beth.”

“Nice to meet you, Elizabeth.” He drew out every syllable, like he liked the taste of it in his mouth. But that was crazy. He could get any woman he wanted. There was no reason to think he would ever be into her, and that wasn’t why she was here, anyway. “You booked a private lesson, right? Called the other day?”

“Um, yes.” Beth coughed. 

“Havin’ second thoughts?” Rio stepped closer to her, the sharp scent of his cologne cutting through the vague odor of dried sweat that filled the room. Something about it, something about him, helped her force away the doubts and make a decision for herself, for once.

Beth tilted her head back to look him in the eye and shook her head. “No. I want to do this.”

He smiled again, tongue darting out to wet the corner of his lips. “Good. Let’s get you taped up. Don’t want those pretty hands getting all busted.”

He nodded towards a small office and pulled out a roll of what looked like black bandages. He took one of her hands, wrapping it tightly in the tape. She tried to focus on what he was doing, and not how it felt to have someone holding her hand. That was so not the point, even if it had literally been years since anyone but her kids had held her hand.

“How’s that feel?” Rio was watching her closely, dark eyes intent on her face. Beth felt naked in front of him. Dean had never looked at her like that, like he really saw her, like he cared what she was about to say, not even when they first got married.

“Um, I don’t know. How is it supposed to feel?” She felt like her hand wasn’t even attached to her body at this point. She was so far from her comfort zone, she couldn’t even see it from here.

“Can you bend your fingers? Not cutting off any circulation?”

She tested it, making a fist, turning her wrist, and shrugged. “Yeah. I think it’s good.”

“Good. Give me the other one.”

When she was taped to Rio’s specifications, he handed her a pair of red boxing gloves. Sliding them onto her hands, Beth tried to let them give her the confidence to finish what she had started. She was here, she was equipped, she could do this.

He led her over to one of the punching bags hanging from a bar. “Show me what you got.”

Beth blinked at him. “What?”

“Throw a punch. Want to see what I’m workin’ with here.”

“I don’t know how.” Her brain was running on overdrive, trying to think of how to punch something. She had never even hit her sister when they were kids.   
“Stop thinking,” Rio said, hands falling to her shoulders as he turned her to face him. His hands were warm, gentler than she expected. “Breathe. Just breathe.”

She did. Her eyes locked onto his and she felt her heart skip in her chest. Forcing air into her lungs, she tried to calm her still-whirring mind. Looking directly into those brown eyes, her thoughts had drifted from punches and boxing and fights she had never been in, to something much more terrifying, to her, anyway.

Forcing the thoughts aside, she stepped away from him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was shaking his head, still watching her.

“Come on. Just one punch. Otherwise, what’s the point of you bein’ here?”

He was right. Screwing up all her courage, she pulled her hand back and hit forward with all her strength. The bag hardly moved.

“You’re gonna break a wrist, hitting like that,” Rio said, stepping up beside her. He wasn’t laughing at her, but Beth felt like he might be holding it back. She hated not being good at things, not being able to do them perfectly the first time. This was a terrible idea, after all. 

“I told you I didn’t know how to do it.”

“I know. That’s why I’m gonna teach you.”

* * *

By the end of the hour, Rio had shown her how to make the punching bag swing, every time she hit it. He showed her jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and even a combination or two. She wasn’t sure she could remember it all, but the approving noises he made and the way he circled her made her want to keep doing it. As long as his eyes were on her, nodding when she landed each punch, she felt like she could do anything. 

“Can I ask you something?” he said, as she unwrapped the tape from her fists. 

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“Why you really here?”

“What?”

“I mean, you’re not really my usual clientele is all.”

Beth felt shame rising in her chest, blush reddening her skin as tears welled in her eyes. Forcing herself to swallow them back, she tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Rio held up his hands, stepping closer to her again. “Hey, whoa. Not tryin’ to offend. Just curious.”

She nodded, still blinking back the tears that she refused to let fall. All those years with Dean, wasted except for her kids, all those years of feeling not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, it was all coming up now, in front of this near-stranger. This insanely attractive, tattooed stranger.

One of his long fingers slid under her chin, tipping her head up to look at him. The gentle touch sent sparks over her skin and she closed her eyes.

“Hey, look at me.” His voice was low and rough, something about it vibrating through the most sensitive parts of her, parts that had been dormant for a long time, since long before she found out Dean was cheating on her, since long before her divorce. She wasn’t actually sure she had ever felt this particular feeling. “You still with me, Elizabeth?”

There it was again: the long, slow enunciation of every syllable of her name. With him so close to her, it felt different, more intimate. She opened her eyes. He lifted his other hand and used his pinky to brush her bangs off her forehead. She was sweaty, disheveled, and she had somehow never felt more attractive, under the burning gaze of this man.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore.” The words tumbled out, and Beth looked down again. She wanted to run, but she wanted to stay.

“What you got to be afraid of, ma?”

Heart still pounding, she tried to shrug. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.”

“Nah. I don’t believe that.”

Biting her lip, Beth finally managed to grit it out: “I’ve never lived alone before.”

Rio’s eyebrows rose. “Huh?”

“I just got divorced, and when my husband has the kids, I’m on my own.”

“Like today?”

She nodded. “Like today. And it’s so quiet, and the house is too big, and I’m scared.” She shook her head. “Probably sounds stupid.”

“Nah. Not stupid at all. Not a bad idea to know how to defend yourself. Should’ve told me that before, though. Self-defense is a different animal.”

“What?” Beth’s heart dropped.

“Don’t get me wrong, knowing how to throw a punch is a good start, but there’s way more to it if you’re trying to protect yourself.” He smiled a little, hands falling to her shoulders. “We could book another lesson, if you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure.” He squeezed her arms before letting her go. “Same time next week?”

Beth nodded, trembling a little as she made her way to the door. She sat in her car for a long moment, trying to get her breathing under control. 

When she got home, to her empty, cavernous house, she felt a little less alone, a little less afraid, and if her mind wandered to thinking about what Rio might be up to, there was no harm in that. She couldn’t help that, couldn’t control where her mind went.

Suddenly, going to the boxing gym didn’t feel crazy at all. In fact, she could hardly wait for her next session. She was ready to take control of her life, once and for all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! It's my first attempt at Brio, so please let me know what you think! 
> 
> Feel free to come find me on [tumblr](https://heartonfirewrites.tumblr.com) if you have feelings and you want to yell about them with me, or if you have prompts you'd like to see. I'm pretty excited about this ship, and I'd like to jump into it more, so any ideas you've got, feel free to send them my way.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know you don’t gotta look so nervous every time, yeah?”

Beth flushed. She had just stepped into the gym for her next lesson, and of course, Rio had been watching her debate whether or not to go in for the last five minutes. Again.

“Hi, Rio.”

“Elizabeth.” She hated how much she had been thinking about the way he said her name, the way it rolled off his tongue, in that infuriatingly sexy, deep voice of his. “You ready?”

Taking a breath, she tried to calm the nerves that had been rising since she left after her last session with him. She had been so sure that she was ready for this, that this was what she wanted to do with her newfound free time, but the more time she had to think about it, the more she questioned her decision. But she was here now. Her hands were still shaking a little, but she nodded anyway.

“You sure?” Rio cocked his head to the side, watching her like he knew the doubts that had been swirling in her head all day. 

She nodded again. “Yes.”

“Good. You remember how to tape up, or you need my help?”

Beth couldn’t exactly admit that she had been more focused on his hands on hers than on what exactly he had been doing with the tape, but he just smirked, like he knew it anyway.

“Pay attention this time, yeah?”

She nodded, and she really meant to watch, but the heat of his skin against her palms was distracting, to say the least.

“You watchin’ me?”

Snapping back to reality, Beth felt her cheeks burn again. She focused back on the way he was wrapping the tape around each of her fingers and her palm, down to her wrist. It felt like it had the previous week, firm, but not so tight she couldn’t move her hand.

“Now you do it.”

She took the tape from him and started to wrap it, but she hadn’t even made it halfway around her palm before he was taking it from her, pulling it much tighter than she had.

“Don’t need you breakin’ a wrist or a finger on me. Pay attention to how it feels.”

Beth nodded. She didn’t want to disappoint him. She wouldn’t mess it up again.

“A’ight, let’s get to it, ma.”

He didn’t give her boxing gloves this time, and he led her to the ring in the middle of the room, holding the ropes wide for her to climb through. 

Her heart started racing again, standing across the ring from him. He had been right when he said that this was going to be a different beast this week. She felt his eyes on her, burning through her, as he prowled back and forth. Even if there had been other people there, and Beth was glad that there weren’t, she wasn’t sure she’d have even noticed them, with him looking at her like that.

“Come here.” She stepped towards him, breath catching in her throat as the space between them vanished. He smelled good, like teak and woodsmoke and gasoline, nothing like the musty gym around them. He put out a hand and rested it on her shoulder. Beth came to a stop, and waited for him to tell her what to do next. “Somebody’s gonna attack you, they gonna get close, yeah?” She nodded. “So, what do you do?”

She blinked at him. “I don’t know.”

He sighed, a frown creasing his forehead. “Come on, ma. Imagine someone like me showed up in your house, got all up in your space. What would you do?”

“Scream?”

He smiled as he nodded. “That’s good, but it ain’t enough. First thing you do is, you get me off-balance.”

“How?”

“Nose or throat is best. Goin’ for the balls is fine, but most guys’ll see that comin’.” He took her hand. “Use this part,” he said, tapping the heel of her palm, “like this.” He pulled her hand forward, and Beth froze. “Relax.”

“I can’t hurt someone.” 

“They come in your house and try to hurt you first, you better.” His eyes flashed as he let go of her hand. “Try it.”

She followed the motion he had shown her, and he nodded. 

“Good. Regular fist'll work on a throat.” Beth tried it, the backs of her knuckles just brushing the tattooed skin of Rio’s neck. He cleared his throat and stepped back. “Get ‘em off-balance and you run. You got it?”

“What if they catch me?” It was hard to say it out loud, but she had been having nightmares for weeks, since the divorce was finalized. It was why she was here.

Rio caught his lower lip between his teeth and thought for a moment before he answered. “You fight like hell. Stomp on their feet, kick out their knees, headbutt ‘em, whatever you gotta do to get away. And you run.”

“Can you show me?”

He took her wrist in his hand. Her pulse was racing so fast, she was sure he could feel it. He didn’t mention it, if he did.

“They grab you like this, twist and pull out at the thumb.” He used his other hand to turn her forearm and force it through the connection of his thumb and fingers. “Do it again.”

She did. And again, until Rio was satisfied she could do it. He grabbed her a different way, and she twisted and got away without him showing her first. He tried to hide it, but she saw the grin flash onto his face when she did it.

“Let’s try somethin' different. Turn around.”

Beth felt him closing in behind her, the heat of him emanating off his body. She was shaking again, but not from nerves anymore. She wanted him to touch her again. It was just a lesson, just his job. She knew that. She wanted him to touch her anyway.

His arms slid around her waist, strong and solid, his chest flush against her back. She almost forgot what they were trying to do, what he was trying to teach her.

“They grab you like this, slam your head back. Break a nose easy as a fist.” His voice rumbled through her, his lips so close to her ear she could feel his breath on her skin, sending shivers over her body. “Try it.”

She focused again, throwing her head back as hard as she could. Rio moved out of the way, releasing her completely.

“Good. Again.”

Beth wasn’t about to complain, when his arms locked around her again. She felt like a hormone-crazed teenager, but any excuse to touch this man was fine with her.

So, they practiced. And practiced. Until sweat was rolling down her neck and she had to stop and catch her breath. Rio leaned casually against the ropes of the ring, still impeccable, not a drop of sweat anywhere to be seen.

“What you think? You got it now?”

She shrugged. She understood everything he had taught her, but she didn’t want this to be the last time she came in. She didn’t want this to be the last time she saw him.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You sure?” His tongue poked out at the corner of his lips. “One more thing I could show you.”

“Really?” Beth had been sure they had gone through every possible scenario in the last hour, but she was willing to try whatever he had in mind.

“Yeah.” He pushed off the ropes and strode towards her, all confidence and swagger. He was in her space, again, but he didn’t grab her this time. He lifted a hand and pushed her bangs off her forehead. Beth’s eyes fell closed and she tried to remember how to breathe.

Before he could do or say anything else, the door to the gym banged open and she stumbled back, blushing bright red.

“Yo, Rio! You got a minute?” Beth turned and saw a man with tattoos all over his head lugging a duffel bag into the space.

“Yeah. Be right there.” He ran a hand over his face. “Next week, yeah?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Rio!”

He glared at the man, who was standing in the doorway to his office, almost tapping his foot in his impatience.

“I should go.” Beth unwrapped her hands in record time, dropping the tape on a chair on her way out. She could feel Rio’s eyes on her as she ran away, but she didn’t turn back to look at him. Whatever she thought was going to happen obviously wasn’t, and it was ridiculous to want it to. He had taught her so much, and she was grateful for that, but that was all it was. 

She could defend herself now, and that had to be enough. It was time to leave this whole thing behind.

Or so she told herself, as she settled into her couch with a glass of whiskey, in her most comfortable pajamas, after a very long bath. 

It was only when she got up for a refill that she realized something was wrong. The back door was open, just slightly, light breeze lifting the curtains and chilling her exposed skin. Her heart rate picked up, and she tried to remember everything Rio had said.

“Should really lock that door,” a deep voice said, as a hand closed around her wrist. Grabbing his forearm, Beth wrenched her arm away, ready to break his nose if he came at her again, but then she saw who it was.

Rio was grinning at her. “Good. You got it. Thought you might need some more practice, runnin’ out like that.” He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he tugged her closer. “Didn’t get to show you everything today.”

“What’s left?”

His smile softened. He hooked one finger under her chin and pulled her the rest of the way to him. His lips were soft and warm against hers, his arms just as strong as she remembered when they wrapped around her waist. Her hands circled his neck, fingertips trailing over the short hair at the back of his head.

Low groans vibrated out of Rio and Beth wanted to stay here as long as she could, in this feeling. She felt wanted, desired, beautiful in a way she had never felt before. She pressed her body against his and he pulled away a little, kissing down her neck. She felt the rasp of his stubble against her skin, the light graze of his teeth, and she let her head fall to the side, giving him all the access he wanted. She was so worked up at this point, she wondered if it was possible to orgasm from just kissing someone, if that someone was Rio.

“It’s kind of been a while,” she whispered, not sure if he could even hear her.

He lifted his head, eyes dark with need as he smiled down at her. “Oh, I’m gonna take care of you, mami.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love on the first chapter of this AU! It's really fun writing these two in this universe, and I'm definitely considering continuing it. I'm in so deep on these two, and I might even be tempted to write some smut in the near future, if there's any interest. <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the rating change for this chapter. Smut lies ahead, so if that's not your thing, I'd turn back now. Otherwise, read on!

Beth hadn’t been lying, when she told him it had been a while. She couldn’t even remember the last time Dean had touched her, kissed her, shown any interest in her at all. She couldn’t remember the last time she wanted him to. It was no wonder, really, that he had cheated, no wonder that her marriage had dissolved in front of her eyes. 

“Hey, you still with me, mama?” Rio’s voice cut through the cloud of insecurity that still hung over her, despite all her efforts to free herself from how Dean made her feel. 

They were in her bedroom, having stumbled into it from the kitchen, hands all over each other, lips all over each other. Rio was watching her now, eyes tracing the furrow of her eyebrows, the pout of her lips.

“What you thinkin’ about?”

She shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was dive into all of this now, here, when there were so many other, much more fun, things they could be doing. Before he could ask again, she pressed her lips to his, swallowing his words as they turned into a low groan that vibrated through her, lighting her up from the inside.

Fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, Beth tried to focus on nothing but the man in front of her, though as she pushed it off his shoulders, she realized just how crazy this was. He was a boxing instructor, so it made sense that he would have some definition, but he was nothing but lean muscle under golden skin, dotted in a few places with tattoos she hadn’t noticed before. She stopped moving for a long moment, staring at him, and he smiled at her, almost shyly.

“Like what you see?”

Beth nodded, forcing herself to look away as a flush rose over her cheeks. Confidence radiated off of him, like it didn’t bother him at all to be half-naked. And why would it, when he looked like that?

“Your turn,” he murmured, bending to kiss her neck, mouth hot and wet and insistent against her skin. She hadn’t had a hickey since high school, but she couldn’t find it in her to care about that when he felt this good against her, fingers finding their way to the buttons of her top. He released them one at a time, and it felt like time slowed down as the fabric opened, to reveal her pale skin beneath. Rio ran a hand up her ribcage, just grazing the underside of her breast, and her breath escaped in a low hiss. He traced over her skin, raising goosebumps wherever he touched, and he seemed intent on touching her everywhere, pushing her shirt away and letting it fall to the floor.

Beth bit her lip, trying not to let herself spiral as his eyes roved over all of her exposed skin, sagging breasts, stretch marks, tummy, and all.

“God, ma,” he said, voice low and growling in a way that made heat curl in her center. “You’re gorgeous.” He tilted his head, eyes flaring as his thumb ghosted over her nipple, hardening it to a peak. “You know that, yeah?”

Her teeth ground deeper into her lip, so hard she was nearly afraid she’d draw blood. There was a time that, sure, she had felt kind of pretty, but that time was so long ago, she could hardly even remember what that was like. Four kids and a failed marriage could do that to a person.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Rio said, tipping her head up to look at him with a finger under her chin, concern in his eyes. Beth felt tears welling up, even as she tried to blink them back, and she shook her head. He scoffed. “Guess I’ll have to show you.”

She was about to ask what he meant, but then his lips were on hers again, as he nudged her backwards towards her bed. He tugged at the elastic waistband of her pajama bottoms and slid them down her legs to pool at her feet. Beth stepped out of them, overwhelmed with the sensation of Rio’s hands on her thighs, clutching at her hips, pressing into her skin with heat like a brand. He hooked his thumbs into the high-waisted, thoroughly unsexy, mom underwear she had pulled on after her bath, but then he paused.

“You good with this, ma?” She nodded, but he shook his head. The fire he was stoking was threatening to explode out of her in an embarrassing way if he didn’t do something about it soon, but he just stood there, face inches from hers, waiting for something. “Nah, I’m gonna need to hear you say it.”

“Yes, please.” The words fell out of her mouth with a breathless impatience that made him huff out a soft laugh. “Please, Rio.”

“All you had to say.” He leaned in and kissed her again, and she felt her panties sliding down to her ankles to join the rest of her clothes on the floor. She sank back onto the mattress, pulling him down with her.

Breaking the kiss, Rio sank to his knees in front of her, eyes nearly black with desire as he pressed his lips to her knee, her thigh, her hip, teasing towards her center in a way that made her eyes roll back and her hands clutch at the comforter she had chosen so carefully when Dean had suggested they needed to “liven things up.”

All thoughts of Dean and her marriage flew out of her head as soon as Rio traced over her with his tongue, though. A surge of heat flared inside her and she felt her hips leave the bed, pressing into his face as she searched for more friction.

He pressed a hand against her stomach, holding her in place, while his tongue continued to work against her clit, pulling moans and soft cries from deep inside her chest as he leaned in, pressing his tongue inside her, following it with a long finger. She was close, and she knew he could feel it in the way her walls were clenching around him, the way her thighs tensed against his head. He didn’t let up the pressure one bit, driving her higher and higher until she couldn’t hold herself together anymore, crashing over the edge with a keening wail that echoed in the silence of the empty house.

Rio didn’t say a word, just watched her come down from the high with that wild darkness in his eyes that made her shiver again, just to see him looking at her like that.

“Please, Rio,” she said again, voice rough and hoarse in a way she had never heard before. She felt spent, wrung out, and they were just getting started.

He just smirked at her, shucking off his jeans. She could see the length of him, hard inside his briefs, and she felt her body throb with how much she wanted to feel him inside her. She had never felt this way before, even way back when sex was entirely new to her, and she thought all she would ever want was Dean.

But Rio was not Dean, and he was in no hurry. He stood over her, just staring down at her, from under those long lashes, fingers trailing over her thighs, his light touch sparking over her skin. He bit his lip, like he was considering something as he took off his briefs and stood before her, as naked as she was, nearly glowing in the moonlight streaming through the curtains. 

She reached for him, sitting up to touch his heated skin, brush over the soft dusting of hair that led down to his cock. His breath stuttered as her fingers traced over the head of his cock, and she felt his blood pounding in his veins. As hard as it was for her to believe, he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She could see it for herself.

“C’mere,” he whispered, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck to pull her up to meet his lips in a crushing kiss. Beth whimpered into his mouth when she felt his length against her, hard and ready. He slid against her wet heat, lifting her leg to press inside.

The stretch of him made the breath rush out of her lungs, her fingernails digging into his back as she adjusted to his size. He started to move, slowing dragging all the way out before sliding back in to fill her completely, and she felt her knees go weak. He followed her as she fell back onto the bed, lifting her ankle to rest it on his shoulder and drive deeper into her. She didn’t even know she could be that flexible these days, but for him, she would do whatever he wanted.

“Rio,” she murmured, lips against his collarbone as she pulled him closer, as close as she could get him. She almost wished she could crawl inside him, embody all that confidence he brought to everything he did, feel this feeling forever. “Rio.”

“Elizabeth.” He sounded as wrecked as she felt, voice cracking over the syllables of her name as he increased his pace, snapping his hips into hers hard enough she was sure she’d feel it the next day. She didn’t care.

She felt another climax building in her core, waves of pleasure cresting and driving towards her orgasm until she couldn’t hold it back any longer, falling apart under Rio with another cry of his name. He pulsed inside her as she fell over the edge, collapsing on top of her as he came right behind her.

When they both had a chance to catch their breath, Rio pushed off of her, let her slide back, against the headboard and under the covers. He smiled at her again, watching as she pulled the sheets up to cover her chest.

“Why do you do that, ma?” he said, head tilting as he considered her again.

“Do what?”

“Cover yourself up. I meant what I said. You’re gorgeous.”

She just laughed a little, looking away from him, blushing again, but she could still feel his eyes on her as he pulled on his underwear. He sat on the bed beside her, mattress sinking under his weight as he took a strand of her hair and twisted it around his finger.

“You don’t believe me?” She shrugged, peeking up to see him staring at her, like he could see everything she was thinking, every doubt she’d ever had about herself. “That’s okay, mama. I’ll prove it to you eventually.”

He sounded so sure, she almost believed him. When he pulled her in to kiss him again, she was even closer.

“You want to stay over?” Her voice sounded thin in the heavy quiet of her bedroom, but his smile just widened.

“You want me to?” She pulled him to her for another searing kiss, and he chuckled as they broke apart. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments on this fic! It's been fun exploring these characters in this universe, and I know my Rio is a little softer than canon, but I just like the idea of him helping Beth find her confidence in any universe, crime boss or not. I'm toying with other ideas for this universe, so if you have prompts or ideas for me, please feel free to send them my way, either in the comments or on [tumblr](https://pick-your-poison.tumblr.com)!


End file.
